Labour’s plan to slash jury trials at odds with past Starmer calls to expand them

PM once advocated for all criminal cases to be heard before juries even those at magistrates court level, it has emerged

Keir Starmer, whose government has drawn up plans to scrap nearly all jury trials, previously said that all criminal cases including those at magistrates courts should be heard before juries, the Guardian can disclose.

In a magazine article, the prime minister wrote that “the right to trial by jury is an important factor in the delicate balance between the power of the state and the freedom of the individual”. He called for jury trials to be extended to thousands of cases before magistrates courts “despite the inevitable increase in costs”.